


Lost, found and what comes next?

by lesbeaan



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Family Drama, Family Dynamics, Family Feels, First Meetings, Guilt, Love/Hate, Revenge, Survivor Guilt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-30
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:15:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22481647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbeaan/pseuds/lesbeaan
Summary: What if Emma pulled the trigger on Lily?
Relationships: Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Emma Swan, Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Henry Mills, Evil Queen | Regina Mills & Lily | Lilith Page, Evil Queen | Regina Mills/Maleficent, Lily | Lilith Page & Emma Swan, Lily | Lilith Page & Maleficent, Lily | Lilith Page/Emma Swan, Maleficent & Henry Mills
Comments: 30
Kudos: 76





	1. Shoot!

**Author's Note:**

> Please be gentle with me... this is something that's been on my mind for so long, but it is the first time it really takes a shape of a story worth telling. It is going to be painful and I'm still deciding on the details, so hold on to your seats.  
> Oh, english is not my first language and I have no beta. If you could point out my errors, I'd be forever grateful.

"Emma... you're better than this."

...

“No!!”

Blood, so much blood. And the pain is almost unbearable. She almost can't believe this happened. She hoped it wouldn't come to this.

She hears them arguing over her.

“This is your fault!”

“You took the shot!”

“I’ll end you!”

She has to stop them. She pulls in a breath and yells over their voices. “Emma!” She coughs and feels the metallic taste of blood in her mouth. “Emma…” The blonde comes over and kneels in front of her brunette friend.

“I’m sorry, Regina. I'm so so sorry...”

Regina tries to smile at her and says “Lily…” the younger brunette comes closer and Regina makes a move to hold her hand. Lily kneels next to her and holds her hand, asking “why did you save me? I’m not worth saving”- Regina moves her hand and touches Lily’s cheek. “you’re worth everything, you’re-” she has another coughing fit and she feels the blood. She turns to Emma “Protect her…” she pulls another deep breath – “take her to Mal and tell her…” is getting harder and harder to breathe - “tell Mal that I’m sorry…” – she says and her voice is getting weaker – “tell her I found our -” – she breathes again and looks at Lily, when she says “I found our daughter.”

Both younger women start to cry over her and she decides to spend these, more than likely, final moments, with her grown child. “Lily…I have loved you-” another painful breath – “from the moment I knew about you”. She feels her vision darkening. “I’m sorry we didn’t have more time. I-” she begs the universe _just a **little longer… please**_ , she takes a long pause to breathe and finishes. “I would have loved you right… made you know how unique… how precious you are… I love you, daughter. Tell Mal that I love her… That I’m- I’m sorry I ran… I’m sorry… we couldn’t be a… be a family”.

At last she says “Emma… take her home… tell Henry… Tell him I-” and everything goes dark, the pain is gone and she’s finally found peace.


	2. My mate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Aren't you the savior? Save her!"

Lily looks at Emma with despair in her eyes. "Do something!!!" - Emma, who's not feeling any better, turns to her and says "what can I do? I don't have magic anymore and here I wouldn't have magic anyway!"Lily grabs Emma by her jacket "aren't you the savior? Save her!!!"Emma looks into her eyes and keeps quiet for a moment. Then she starts moving. She tries to lift Regina and then looks at Lily, that is just staring at her, confused. "What you're doing there? Help me!". Lily helps her and puts Regina on the back seat of the car and Emma says "follow me on the bug. This car is faster, I'm going to bring her to Storybrooke and we'll see if someone there can save her". Then she jumps on the driver seat and takes off.

**Storybrooke**

She feels a sudden pain and falls onto her knees in front of Ursula and Cruella. Cruella helps her up and puts her seated. "Are you ok, darling?" The blonde looks at her with lost eyes "Regina's dying" - her eyes fill with tears and the pain keeps pulling on her heartstrings but she can't go to Regina, she's outside Storybrooke.Ursula's brows frown "How do you know that?" - Maleficent takes a deep breath and says "She's my mate. Lilith's other parent." Both Cruella and Ursula stare at her with wide eyes "true love?" - Mal nods. "And now I'm losing her" - she cries.

She feels their bond weakening, Regina’s life force, wherever her beloved is, seeping out of her, until she starts saying desperately - "I can't feel her anymore! She's gone! She's gone! She's gone!" Her friends try to calm her down but she's losing herself in despair and suddenly she runs off of the cabin into the woods, turns into the dragon and roars. She roars to the sky because she can’t feel their connection anymore, Regina's dead. After endless hours, she smells it. Somehow, it seems like Regina crossed the town line. She takes off flying and stops in front of a car.

She bites off the roof and hears the scream “What the fuck???” – The savior shoots a her (again – it didn’t work before, why would she think it would work now?) and she feels the bullets onto her scales, but she has a single focus. With care, she takes Regina's body and puts onto the street making a ring of dragon fire around herself and her mates body. Then she turns herself back into human form and reverently touching her skin."Please, please, please" - she says as she tries to resurrect Regina. First, she heals the wound. Feeling hate pool onto her heart as she sees the bullet dropping onto the ground while the magic cleans the wound, reconstruct the tissues and flesh. Only then she tries to bring her back.

She uses ancient incantations, her own blood, she uses countless methods of dragon magic to resurrect her beloved and then, spent and heartbroken she breaks down and hugs her body, crying. "I'm sorry, my love. I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I'll find another way. I refuse to be without you!" Maleficent then puts a preservation spell over her love, keeping her body in stasis, forever protected. She conjures clean clothes, first undergarments and then her favorite deep blue Evil Queen dress. Regina looked sublime with that dress, and that’s how she should be now, looking like a goddess during this imposed sleep until Maleficent had found the answer to bring her back, so they could have the family they always wanted. She takes Regina into her arms, and walks out of her ring of fire, like a goddess of vengeance.

Emma sees Maleficent walking out of the fire with Regina in her arms and runs to her. She stretches her arms to touch her but Mal presses Regina’s body close to her own and says with a low, cold and clear voice “You don’t touch her!”

She turns to the yellow car that just crossed the border and stopped at a distance. She sees Lilith, that looks so much like Regina that her heart breaks just a little further, opens her mouth and calls to her in dracotongue “Come with us”. Immediately, her daughter follows and they vanish in smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, there's that. Mal couldn't bring Regina back with pure dragon magic. How can Regina come back?


	3. How I met your mother

When she notices that she transported herself into Regina’s bedroom on the Mifflin Street Mansion, Maleficent puts Regina on the bed and hugs Lilith, crying all of her pain and heartbreak and sorrow on her recently found daughter.  
Hours later, both women are seated on the kitchen, Maleficent drinking wine and Lily with her beer. Lily stares at her mother and then speaks – “just how exactly are you and Regina my biological parents?”  
Mal clears her voice “Well, that’s a long story.” - Lily counters with - “We seem to have enough time, don’t you think?” - Maleficent nods and starts telling.  
“On the Enchanted Forest, life is way different than on this realm. From the memories Regina gave me before” – her voice gets caught on her throat – “before she left… our realm is similar to what is known here as the middle ages. So, before I met Regina, I had fallen in love with this woman, this human princess, Briar Rose. She seemed to be in love with me too, but it was all lies. She had a fiancée named Stephan waiting for her and her real goal was to use me and make me weak so they could “slay” the dragon and take my land and my fortress…” – her eyes fill with hatred – “I went to visit her one day and she was with him. I heard them talking about their plans and I hated them. I stormed out back to the Dark Forest and swore I would take my vengeance. But I failed. We went to war, but I had told her about my weaknesses and she told their army, so it took much more energy out of me to fight them and even though at some point I had her close enough to kill her, I hesitated. On my retreat home, in my dragon form, I set fire to a part of the woods with all my strength, ending up giving all of my fire, my magic. But my despair was so enormous I didn’t notice. After that, I went home and spent my days drinking.  
After some time, drinking wasn’t enough so I started mixing some sleeping curse potion on the wine. It had the effect needed to keep me numb. Many years went by and someday another princess stormed my castle, or rather, a queen. I was a mess, the castle was a mess, my life was a mess. Regina wanted to learn magic from me so she could get her revenge over the people who wronged her. I told her to go away. Revenge was futile, she’d never get it and she would end up like me: Miserable and destroyed. Her eyes were sparkling with defiance and fire I had never seen on a human before when she said to me that I was wrong and she would get her revenge.  
She left and I went back to my plans of drinking and poisoning myself with sleeping curse, but that fire on her eyes stayed with me. I started to put myself together. Cleaned up the castle, started to slow down on the drinking, until she came back. She came back and forced me to get my fire back, my dragon that I had lost when I set fire on the woods. We almost died that day, but it worked. I got my dragon back and we went to Stephan and Briar Rose’s kingdom and I cursed their daughter to eternal sleep. She gave me back my self worth and I loved her for it.  
After that she came to me, when she could, to learn magic and we fell in love sometime along the way.”  
Her voice gets soft and sad when she says – “But love was something that never treated your mother with kindness. She was terrified of it. So, when she noticed that she loved me, she started pulling away. She focused on her revenge and stopped coming around. I couldn’t just show up in her kingdom without causing panic, for I am the ‘Mistress of all evil’ and we grew apart.”  
A tear drops and Maleficent realizes she was crying once again, but she continues - “When she came back for the last time we had angry sex followed by a magical fight and a terrible goodbye. She took the dark curse with her and it was on this night that I became pregnant with you.”  
Lilith stays silent and Maleficent continues - “She told me, two days ago, when I told her about you, that she left because she knew the price of the curse was the thing she loved the most and she didn’t want to sacrifice me.” Her voice grows cold and detached - “Anyway... I went to the Charmings in order to offer an alliance to protect you and try to stop your mother from going to far. They rejected it and after I gave birth to you they took you.” - she gets angry - “How dare they? They’d rather sacrifice their child and MINE for twenty eight years instead of fighting alongside me to prevent this! They’re monsters! And now… their daughter kills MY MATE!” - Smoke coming out of her nostrils, Maleficent gets up and flees upstairs to Regina with Lily hot on her heels. The older woman sits on the ground and holds her beloved’s hand with Lily watching and feeling guilty. She says on a low voice, almost a whisper. - “This is all my fault” - her mother looks at her and says - “how is that your fault?” - Lily takes a deep breath and narrates what happened. - “The bullet was for me, I goaded Emma to shoot me because I’d come to Storybrooke and kill her parents for ruining my life. For ruining both our lives. Regina tried to stop her but she took the shot and Regina jumped in front of me.” - Mal’s eyes widen and then turn black - “She tried to shoot YOU?” - She gets up. - “Come, daughter, is time to end all Charmings!”  
On this moment, the door opens and closes with violence and they hear a desperate yell with rapid stomps coming on the stairs.  
“MOM!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I didn't get the part after this one right, so I'm sorry for this almost meaningless update.


	4. Prince

Maleficent summons her staff and throws a protective barrier over the bedroom, no Charming will come close to her family again.  
Henry comes running followed closely by the Charmings. As soon as he passes through the door of the bedroom, his body freezes. The Charming clan, are all expelled, thrown far on the corridor.  
“What the hell!” Emma Swan screams but is promptly ignored by the older dragon who looks curious at Henry, circling his frozen body and prodding him with her staff. “well, well… this is new”. Emma gets up and starts pounding on the magical barrier. “Maleficent! Leave my son alone!” And that calls the attention of the dragon woman. “Your- … huh. Interesting. Tell me boy, how is it possible that you were not propelled backwards with my spell if you’re clearly a Charming?”  
Henry looks at her confused. “Uh… I don’t know? I just wanna see my mom!!” Maleficent looks at him once more and decides to take his heart. “Well...” she says with his heart on her hand “let’s see… Oh, you’re Henry! That makes sense. Tell me Henry, how much of a Charming are you? Or are you a Mills, dear?”  
Henry stares at her and says “I’m both!” Maleficent laughs. “Oh, child, tell me then, how does it feel to be a Mills and know all the horrible things the Charming did?” Henry disagrees “They are heroes! They don’t do anything bad!”  
Maleficent looks at the Charmings outside the room and say “So, Snow didn’t betray your mother’s confidence? She didn’t, then, lied to everyone saying Regina wanted her dead because she was jealous of her beauty? Charming didn’t try to kill me once, even though I was doing nothing wrong, just living? Didn’t they, later, invaded my home, stole my child and send her to her death? And didn’t their offspring tried to shoot my daughter and ended up killing my mate, your mother? TELL ME BOY, HOW GOOD ARE YOUR PRECIOUS CHARMINGS??” She says, losing her patient.  
Henry starts crying and asks “Is my mom really dead?”. Lily feels sorry for him and says “it’s ok, my mom will find a way to fix it”, she then turns to Maleficent. “Put his heart back, mother. Please” Mal scoffs but does what she's asked, unfreezing him in the process and Henry turns to the door, where Emma stands looking at him, feeling guilty. His eyes burn in fury. “You. Killed. MY MOM!” His voice thunders and cracks a little in the end.  
“Henry…” She starts but he stops her. “I hate you! I hate you! I hate you! Go away!” This time, Snow talks “Henry you can’t stay with them, they’re dangerous! They’re villains!” Then, something neither of them were expecting happened. Henry’s eyes turned black and his voice turn cold and he started a maniac laugh “hahahahaha, you are funny! You are as responsible for my mother’s death as she” - he points to Emma - “is. If you hadn’t stole Maleficent’s child, none of this would happen! Now, leave. Me. Alone.” He goes to the bed and lays down hugging Regina’s body.   
Maleficent laughs, surprised by the darkness that manifested so tremendously on the young boy and turns in time to see Emma Swan blast her protective barrier with her fists on a boxing sequence. She just says “that’s useless, you know? the boy has spoken, he doesn’t want to be near any of you. Leave.”  
Emma starts to yell “I don’t know what you did to my son, but I’ll end you Maleficent! I killed Cruella, I can kill you too!” Maleficent magics Henry to the corridor and says “Henry, if you want to stay, you’ll have to cross the barrier again, if you want to go with her, you are free to go. Remember, though. The barrier stops Charmings, dark prince.” He looks at Emma with cold, dark eyes and says “I’m not a Charming. I’m a Mills.” And crosses inside the room without problem.


	5. Sleep tight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, it looks like quarantine is being good for something, isn't it?  
> Some cute moment between Mal and Regina and so on. Still not the full "remembering good times together" thing, I want to make it more silly when it happens, this is more of a romantic rememberance thing.

Henry stays for hours until he decides to go to sleep in his own room. He prepares a guest bedroom for Lily and decides Maleficent should stay with his mom. The dragon woman is his mothers true love after all.

Inside his bedroom he faces a mirror and looks at his own dark eyes. “Why is this happening?” he asks and to his surprise, the reflection answers. “This is your own branch of magic, truest believer. With the same power you have to believe in the good in everyone, you can also believe in the darkness that exists in all humans.” His eyes flash green and turn black again. “Your own dark thoughts and emotions fuel the magic that runs in your veins, remember that.” Henry stares scared at the mirror and makes some movements to make sure it is his reflection. Then he covers the mirror with a blanket and goes to sleep.

Meanwhile, Maleficent is lying down on her side, looking at Regina’s peaceful face. She runs a finger through her eyebrows, nose, lips and then she curls around the smaller woman. “Do you remember the first time I took you flying?” she asks, knowing the other woman can’t answer. “That is one of my favorite memories with you. You hair windblown, the huge smile on your face, you never looked more beautiful… I wish we had more time, you know? I never told you that I loved you, I never told you were the one for me.... Do you remember the time we went to Camelot and played pranks on Merlim’s sisters? Oh, that day was glorious. You made Malika’s hair rainbow colored and I never laughed so hard. I miss traveling through realms with you, playing pranks, using magic on a carefree way, flying, diving in the water… The first time you looked at me like I was precious, the day I taught you the first bit of magic, I was a goner. We both tried to pretend it wasn’t love but you looked at me and I knew. Almost 40 years later and I still know... and I will find a way to bring you back.” She kissed Regina lightly on the cheek and kept talking “Your son, has a great potential to darkness inside him. I think losing you in such a terrible way, from the hands of his Charming mother, may have been too much for him… But I know you wouldn’t want him to succumb to darkness, so I promise to try and help him learn to deal with it. Even though, I’d like to see the dark prince arise. The world would change forever, my dear. Anyhow… our daughter. Our beautiful, powerful and amazing daughter… she’s been the one to hold me together, you know? She is so much like you. She looks like you, she’s hurting like you were, when we met, she has so much darkness inside her that she doesn’t know how to deal with, so like you… She’ll learn, of course. Accepting her darkness and her light, because of course she has light inside her, she’s a product of true love. She’ll be glorious. Light magic, dark magic and dragon magic at her fingertips, she’ll be the most powerful being in all the realms! And I promise you’ll be here to see it happen. I’ll search everywhere in all the worlds for a way to bring you back to us, my love.” Maleficent finally falls asleep.

Lilith stayed up listening to her mother talk to the frozen body of her other mother. Was it possible? Had she finally found someone that could love her unconditionally? That didn’t think her darkness was a burden, who thought her precious? She remembered Regina telling her “I would have loved you right… made you know how unique… how precious you are… I love you, daughter.” She doesn’t even notice she’s crying, thinking that even now, when she found her parents, her family’s broken. But she vows to help her blonde mother to find a way to bring Regina back and make their family whole, for once. If she has to burn the world for it, so be it.


	6. Cruella De Vil

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to make it into 3 chapters so I'll post another at the end of the week, perhaps.  
> Be prepared for sadness. And some joy too.  
> Mal is everything of good in this world. I really am going strong on the Charming bashing/hate on this fic. So, be prepared.  
> Oh, and this Ursula had more powers than OUAT showed of her. She has all her Disney powers.
> 
> Ps: this 3 chapters go to Evilxregal, who's been pushing me to update even on other people fic's coments hahah

The noises wake everyone up. Mal materializes outside and looks at the sky, noticing the storm, and hearing all the yelling from the people.

“Ursula…what the hell is she doing?” Lilith and Henry get to her and she says. “Lilith, take care of your brother. It seems my old friend Ursula decided to throw a party in town.” She vanishes in grey smoke and Lily turns to Henry.

“Kid...” he rolls his eyes and says “We’re going.” The older brunette shrugs and they run to town. Getting there, everything is going to hell. Several buildings are burning, lighting falling from the sky, people fighting against each other, the sea invading the town in huge waves and from the top of the clock tower, David and Snow are trying to convince Emma to not jump to her certain death. Maleficent is talking to Ursula inside a ring of fire and neither of them knows what to do and how to help, but Henry runs to Emma anyway.

“Emma!” Lilith yells when they get there. “What the hell are you doing?” The Charming couple turn to her and David points his sword in the direction of her heart. “Get back!” Lily tries to argue with them, but with them distracted, Emma is free to jump and Lilith only hears Henry’s desperate yell before she’s throwing everyone aside and jumping after the Savior that woke up mid jump from Ursula’s spell and is trying to use her magic to stop herself from dying. 

Lily transforms into a dragon and gets Emma before falling on the ground with a loud crack and turning back to human with her right arm on a very weird angle. She turns to Emma in pain and rage. “What the fuck were doing, your stupid bloke? Henry would see the little grey mass you have all splattered on the street, you asshole!” Henry runs to Lily and hugs her asking “Are you okay? What you did was awesome! You’re like Wonder Woman level of cool, you know?” he turns to look at Emma and, not moving from Lily’s side asks “Why did you jump?”

Emma answers “Crazy octopus lady put a spell on me.” Lily laughs and says “She Prince Erick’ed you into suicide? That’s so lame!” Then she turns serious and says “You do know that she’d not be able to do that if some part of you didn’t want to jump already, right? That’s the whole point of this. What did you do to her?”

The Charmings get there before Emma can answer and, ignoring that Lily just saved Emma’s life, they hug her and start talking, while Lily and Henry look at Emma with varying degrees of concern. “Emma! We’re so glad you’re fine. But now, we have to make a plan to defeat Ursula! She’s destroying the town, she’s a villain!”

Meanwhile, Maleficent is trying to make Ursula snap out of her dark magic induced transe. “Come now, Fish Queen…” she inhales part of the excessive magic around Ursula and the Cecaelia Witch finally seems to notice her. “Maleficent…” her face, already marked by the constant tears, seem to get even more sad when she says “She killed Cruella, she must die!” Maleficent remembers the moment the savior confessed earlier at the mansion and her eyes flash with magic and hatred. “How?”

“Cruella took the boy, trying to make the savior find a way to make her magic complete again, returning her capability to kill. The savior killed her to get the boy back.” Maleficent’s fire grows hotter, getting blue around them “Why? Cruella could not kill Henry. Why and how did the savior kill her?” More lightning falls from the sky while Ursula rages. “Because she could! Isn’t that what the Charmings have been doing all of their lives? Taking things from us just because they can and making us seem like the monsters for not falling for their speech of goodness?”

Maleficent breaths in her fire ring and says “did you rescue Cruella’s body so we can make her a pyre for the ancient Gods?” Ursula nods and Maleficent says “Well, then. The boy is Regina’s too. He’s under my protection. You cannot touch him or Lilith, my daughter. The rest of them? We’ll take care of them tomorrow. Tonight we must pay tribute to the Gods and make sure Cruella is accepted in the stars with the Great Witches who came before us. Come, Sea Queen, we must do our duties now.” They both vanish in smoke and show up into the cabin, where Cruella’s body is being magically prepared for the ceremony. As the Mistress of All Evil, it is Maleficent’s duty as priestess of Magic to make all the prayers, all the spells, to guarantee that her long time ally and yes, old friend, energy does not get lost forever. 

After Cruella is clean and whole, looking peaceful and so unlike the psychopath witch she’s always been, Maleficent starts to seal her body magically against interference, protecting all her remains from being misused, she makes all the symbols against the skin in magical ink, one drop of sacrosanct oil of The Old Temple inside Cruella’s mouth. The black linen, never used, with the sacred symbols sewn from Black unicorn hair is then used to envelop her body while the final chants are said.

In the end, both witches transport and make a pyre on the beach, by hand. This is non negotiable. It is protocol that a witch of great power be burned onto a handmade pyre. It is almost morning by the time they transport Cruella’s body and the final prayers are said. The moment ends and Maleficent turns to Ursula with the String of Lost Love in her hands. “It is your choice, but know that this is not a promise to be made lightly.” Ursula nods, takes the String from Maleficent, gets close to the body and says “The love lost from this life, may it be found and followed through eternity. Through stars, through worlds, through pain and joy. May souls be bound through now and then, though the day the Old Gods call all living things back home.” She makes all the correct knots that must be burnt with the body of the woman she loves and finally says “Goodbye, Cruella De Vil, my love”. She turns to Maleficent and says “Do it.” Maleficent prepares the fireball and 

“Stop!” 

Both grieving women turn to the Savior and her parents, already ready to fight. “Leave, now!” she warns them. Emma then replies “Stop whatever curse or evil spell you’re doing there and we will!”

Maleficent sees Ursula is close to losing her patience and she knows the ceremony must be completed soon, so she says “We’re not making a curse. We are making a funeral. Cruella’s body and soul must be respected. She deserves to have a proper funeral.” Emma says angrily “That murderer doesn’t deserve shit! She almost killed my son!” To which Ursula loses her patience and says to Mal “Complete the ritual, I’ll take care of them”. 

She hits the three of them at once and while Snow and Charming pass out, Emma gets back up, starting a fight with Ursula, who is reigning in her powers so the sky is clear for Maleficent to finish calling on the powers of the universe. She starts baiting Emma away from the pyre and they go on fighting.

The dragon queen, then, calls onto the skies for the fire from the stars, the original fire of Old times, from the beginning of the Universe and when she’s full of ancient magic, she directs it to the pyre and it burns. She turns into a dragon and curls up against the pyre, protecting it until it burns to the ground, leaving only ash in its place. She collects the ash and makes a silver statuette of Cruella putting the ashes inside it. A gift she’ll give to the Cercaelia Queen when she comes back from her fight with Emma. She leaves the Charmings where they are and transports to the mansion, where Lilith and Henry are making breakfast.

He and Lily made enough food for a small army. Lily's outside in the grill, Henry inside making pancakes and she feels warm inside for a whole other reason other than dragon fire, but she also feels the pain of not having Regina at her side for this. And now, not having Cruella either.

"What's all this?" She asks the boy.

He shrugs and says "Lily said you'd teach us how to control our magic so we don't become evil, so we decided that since we'll have to study, we'd need a big breakfast".

She smiles but feels the need to correct him. "Dark magic isn't evil, Henry. Having dark magic is hard to control because it is fueled by thoughts of pain, hardship, sadness, anger and these are strong feelings. But it doesn't mean you're evil. Everyone has those feelings. Some people can't handle it and lash out. Yelling or beating someone up, for example. People with magic sometimes lash out too, but the stakes are higher when you have magical power, do you understand?", she sighs tiredly. The ancient rituals took a lot of energy, but Henry is right. Both younglings need to learn how to control their magic sooner rather than later.

"With great powers come great responsibility?" He says coyly.

She agrees. "Exactly. You are wise for your age, prince Henry." She suddenly turns her head to the side and then marched to the door asking Lily outside. "why are you laughing?"

She answers "You took the Spiderman quote seriously!" Maleficent's eyes grow big and she jumps looking around worried. And Lily and Henry look at each other. The boy asked the brunette woman "What's happening right now?" and she answered "I don't know, kid". They both turn to Mal who is calmer and glaring at them. She asks "there are spidermen running around on this world???"

The two of them just start laughing until Henry is red all over and crying and Lily breaths fire, burning the grill to the ground and making a new round of crazy laughter between them, while the older woman looks at them confused.

They eat their breakfast and Lilith and Henry question her about Ursula and the attempt to kill Emma, to which she answers “I don’t know if Emma Swan will get out of this alive, my dears. She killed both mine and Ursula’s true love unprovoked. I cannot see a way where neither Charming will leave through the end of this war they started.” Henry then says “But Cruella kidnapped me! She was going to kill me!” and Mal says “Enough! Cruella could never kill you. She was prohibited from killing any living thing by the author himself. She only wanted the Charming spawn to think she had leverage so the savior, and I use this term ironically, would help her regain her full powers. Instead, the girl, being as much of a monster as her parents, killed Cruella. So, no, little Henry. There was no need for what that woman did and as such, there is no forgiveness.” The rest of breakfast is tense and by the time they finish none of them is in the mood for magic lessons. Maleficent then says “I will postpone this magical lesson to the afternoon and spend some hours with your mother. You both can do whatever you wish to do, but don’t try to leave the house. I’ll put a spell over it to protect us all, for now.” She gets up and leaves, going to the room, taking a long shower, washing her hair and body, cleansing herself off the ritual. After, she changes into something comfortable and lays down by Regina’s body. 

“I had to do a death ritual today. I remember having done it only one time during the time we were together in the Enchanted Forest and you were so angry to have missed me doing the chants and rites of the Old Times you made promise I’d take you next time I did it. You missed it, again. But I don’t think you’d really appreciate the magic of the moment if you were here. And by that, I mean that you’d be grieving and angry. Cruella is dead. It was her ritual and Gods above, half the time I was performing my duties, the only thing in my mind was ‘what if I have to do this for Regina?’, I don’t think I’d have the strength. Ursula was strong as a diamond, she didn’t cry. She went there and she did what she had to do, she completed the bonding with so much dignity. I don’t believe I’d be capable of doing that If I had to burn your body to the ground and just wait to be reunited in some other life, universe or situation. I cannot lose you like that Regina.” she breathes in the smell of her mate. “Ursula caused some damage to the town. She was rightly angry, of course, the savior killed her mate, her true love, but I can’t imagine you’d appreciate it. I will fix it by tomorrow, don’t worry. I love you, Regina. Please, come back to me.” She falls asleep.

She doesn’t know how long she slept but when she opens her eyes and finds Regina looking at her. She kisses the younger woman with passion. “Regina, my love! How are you awake?” The queen smiles and says “you called for me, my dragon, I could never resist your summons”. Maleficent kisses her again and she talks to her about the last 24 hours. About losing Regina, the pain she felt, how she couldn’t bring her back, how Henry showed up in the house and reneged being a Charming, and the darkness inside him, about Cruella being dead and Ursula’s rampage because of it. The Charmings interrupting the ceremony, everything. Regina just looked at her with a found smile in her face and said “I know”. Mal frowned “How?” and the brunette answered “I can see all that you see, and feel all that you feel, my love”. 

“Oh… you’re not real” Maleficent looked around noticing the layout of the room changed to her bedchambers in the Dark Forest. “You’re still gone” she starts crying. Regina then answers, “I am. But I am not. I’m not your imagination, I really am your Regina. As proof, I can tell you that in my bedroom, on my jewelry box, you will find a false bottom where is hidden the wedding ring you gave me, that you never proposed with, since we never said we loved each other, but you still gave it to me. I researched it later. Sculpted in dragon fire, a dragon ring can only be given to one dragon’s true mate. Funny enough, I never threw it away, even though I had promised myself to never marry again after Leopold.

We are somehow connected and I can almost live through you everything you are experiencing, I don’t know exactly what it is. But even if this is temporary and this ends up being the only chance I have to say it, I love you, Maleficent and I’m sorry for everything I caused you and our daughter. And I should have married you. We should have had been a family.”

Maleficent is still crying and she says “I love you Regina, so so much. And I will save you! And when I do, you will marry me.” They kiss and when Maleficent opens her eyes, Regina’s body is still in front of her like it had been before she went to sleep. She jumps off the bed and goes right to the jewelry box, finding the ring where Regina said it’d be. She laughs and cries and holds it close to her heart and then takes it and puts it on Regina’s finger.

**Author's Note:**

> So, this is going to be a journey...  
> Please comment on what you think.


End file.
